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Police investigate fatal Gratiot hit-and-run in Clinton Twp.

CLINTON TWP., Mich. (WJBK) - Police are searching for a driver who struck and killed a pedestrian in Clinton Township early Monday morning, then fled the scene.

Officials say around 12: 23 a.m. Monday, a white truck was heading southbound on Gratiot near Wellington Crescent in the left lane when the victim was walking from the west side of the road to the east.

The man was struck crossing Gratiot on the passenger side of the vehicle, causing the mirror to break off. The driver did not stop and continued to a car wash on Gratiot, then fled northbound.

A witness who heard the crash discovered the victim in the road, flagging someone down to call 911. The 34-year-old man from Clinton Township was taken to McLaren Macomb Hospital where he died from his injuries.

I tried to save him, that's all I really cared about" said Mike Rodriguez, a homeless man who was asleep in a parking lot near Gratiot and Wellington Crescent in Clinton Township.

Just after midnight he heard a loud thump, someone had been hit by a car.

"I ran as fast as I could and when I got there he was moaning, like really hurt," he said.

Mike didn't have a phone so he ran to a nearby restaurant and then a hotel to get someone to dial 911.

"I think by the time I came back he got hit again," Rodriguez said. "Because the way I saw him the second time was not the way he was the first time."

Police have located the white Cadillac Escalade and are looking for the driver who struck that pedestrian

It is not known at this time if drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.

Residents in the area say the lack of lighting on the road might have led to the driver never seeing the pedestrian.